ACREX 2016 promotes ‘Make in India – Infinite Opportunities for HVAC&R and the Building Services Industry´

South Asia’s largest exhibition on air conditioning, ventilation, refrigerating and building services to be held in Mumbai will emphasise on the need for development of cold chain, related infrastructure and energy supply through PPP.

ISHRAE, the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers, organised a press conference to announce the 26th edition of ACREX 2016, South Asia’s largest exhibition on Air Conditioning, Ventilation, Refrigerating and Building services, scheduled to take place at Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) in Mumbai from February 25-27, 2016.

Key discussions took place at the conference around the theme for ACREX India 2016 “Make in India – Infinite Opportunities for HVAC&R and the Building Services Industry”. Domestic manufacturing will play a pivotal role in promoting, educating and supplying equipment while guiding best practices and will be promoted comprehensively during ACREX 2016.

ISHRAE had estimated the domestic HVAC&R products market in India to be valued at Rs 15,000 crore, having grown from a Rs 10,000 crore valued industry in 2010. ISHRAE also had stated the Indian HVAC&R market is expected to grow by nearly 30 per cent over the next two years to boast of a capitalisation of over Rs 20,000 crore, which will be mainly due to the buoyed acceleration in infrastructure and real estate activities.

The Finance Ministry in the past has positively indicated the need for increasing warehousing capacity for enhancing shelf life of agriculture products. This will ease funding for developing cold chain infrastructure through a robust public private partnership. The domestic cold chain offers great potential to drive and benefit agricultural, horticultural and dairy production.

Warehousing and cold storage development offers great scope of development through participation of related industries like dairy, horticulture, food and vegetables.

Speaking to the media, K Ramachandran, National President, ISHRAE, stated, “Meeting the housing, infrastructure and carbon reduction goals by promoting and developing the domestic manufacturing set up, will help offer a great boost to the domestic GDP. India could emerge as a low-cost manufacturing hub for the global HVAC&R industry.” India’s increased consumer spending in the middle income group offers attractive opportunities for global majors to set up manufacturing hubs, which will further boost employment and cost benefits for MNCs, which were otherwise primarily assembling products in India.”

ACREX 2016 will see an increase in global participation by major players. ACREX 2016 will have special designated areas called “country pavilions” to accommodate participants from China, Germany, the US, Korea, and first-time Turkey. Through these pavilions, visitors will have an opportunity to witness worldwide trends in residential and commercial spaces, building design and the related product innovations primarily developed around energy conservation and sustainability.

Speaking on the occasion, Pankaj Dharkar, National Chair, Steering Committee of ACREX India 2016 stated “ACREX 2016 has been very well received by the industry, both domestic and global, and we are expecting a footfall of over 30,000 trade visitors and around 500 exhibitors who are set to exhibit their products and services on a display area of more than 30,000 sq m. The rapid urban development and migration to cities has fuelled the creation of vast commercial, educational, healthcare and residential spaces across India. Benchmarking of energy requirements will create standards for the industry to follow. We, at ACREX 2016, are delighted with the response we received so far, and this bears testimony to the opportunity domestic manufacturing has to offer, along with potential global players see-through engagement with India. The aim of ACREX 2016 event would be to highlight the demand potential which will convince global and domestic companies to set up and enhance the manufacturing and distribution in the country.”

ISHRAE promotes innovation, guidelines for indoor air quality and energy efficiency among other initiatives. The need for adequate training and skill development has been recognised by ISHRAE and the HVAC&R industry. ACREX 2016 will also present a series of educative sessions which will be held during the three-day event at the venue. These knowledge sessions will provide an opportunity to gain the much needed market insights from professionals in the industry and act as a platform to interact and share thoughts between the industry experts and attendees. The workshops and seminar will be conducted by eminent and internationally acclaimed experts from the industry and provide a rare opportunity to the participants, to learn, share expertise and hone their skills on the latest trends and topics related to the HVAC&R industry.